Friday, October 15, 2010

Poetry Friday--Cat Poems

Okay, I'm not going to lie, I needed an excuse to show a Simon's Cat video, so, I'm doing a post on cat poems.



If you've ever owned a cat, you know that the animator has got the cat moves down pat!

Cats and poets go together. My favorite cat poems are the ones that capture a cat neatly in words.

This one, by Kay Ryan, is new to me, but I knew upon first reading that it is a keeper:
A Cat/A Future

A cat can draw
the blinds
behind her eyes
whenever she
decides. Nothing
alters in the stare
itself but she's
not there. Likewise
a future can occlude:
still sitting there,
doing nothing rude.
Marge Piercy has caught the essence of the cat/human relationship in "The Cat's Song,"
Mine, says the cat, putting out his paw of darkness.
My lover, my friend, my slave, my toy, says
the cat making on your chest his gesture of drawing
milk from his mother’s forgotten breasts.

Read the rest here.
Here's another by the famous Anonymous:
Quick!    quick!
       The cat's been sick.

Where?    where?
       Under the chair.

Hasten!    hasten!
       Fetch the basin.

Alack!    alack!
       It is too late,
The carpet's in
       An awful state.

No!    no!
       It's all in vain,
For she has licked it
       Up again.
A haiku by Issa, written in 1824, shows us how deeply we humans love our cats:
plum blossoms--
dried sardines scattered
on the cat's grave

translated by David G. Lanoue
If you're on the prowl for more poetry, Liz in Ink is hosting the Poetry Friday Round-Up.

6 comments:

Mary Lee said...

This post is the cat's meow!

Liz Garton Scanlon said...

Love the video!

Mur said...

All great poems! The Haiku touched my heart and the video was a nice antidote to the sadness the Haiku inspired.

Andrea Murphy said...

Love the Simon video! I seem to remember the famous Anonymous poem a bit differently and a lot cruder. It included the lines: Run, run get the gun. Oh, hell, he's all done. I learned it as a wee lass from my paternal grandmother, a very genteel lady, indeed. I won't sully this lovely post with any more direct quotes from Nanny's version. You should have heard her take on Little Boy Blue.

Diane Mayr said...

Oh please, pretty please. C'mon, you know you wanna share.

I'm Jet . . . said...

That's a great video! He nailed CAT! Excellent selection of poems, too, Diane.